First off, thanks again for all the fantastic games I have enjoyed from Eugen: started with RUSE, then WALB, WEE, WRD and SDN44. All fantastic games, innovative and as true as I could expect to the historical era/units they protray for the type of games they are. Key is that IrisZoom engine really is a thing of beauty that keeps diving! It is the main reason these games are so good and stand out from virtually all other RTS games. The way it portrays a realistic sense of scale is incredible. The engines allows and incredible amount of battlefield/tactical fidelity and detail (mainly with the incredible line of sight cover and spotting mechanics) while at the same time able to present the strategic picture seamlessly.

Great to hear SD2 is now next in line.

I am mainly interested in what changes (if any) to expect in the actual combat/battlefield mechanics over SDN44. Personally, I don't think there is much that I would even change. I think Eugen have nailed most of what makes the game good in SDN44. The unit details and stats are fine (certainly more would be better than less however), the orders to give units are sufficient and allow enough intelligent control.

How can it be improved? New terrain types? I know there were lots of swamps and wheat/cornfields in the Eastern front, and wooden buildings, so maybe a low grade (light) building as cover? New concealment terrain? Just thinking out loud.

I'm sure we won't hear much of combat details until we get a dev diary on it.

But I'd be interested in corn/wheat fields that provide some cover and stealthiness to infantry and wooden buildings that offer protection from small arms, but crumble to .50 or up, depending on construction.

Talking about terrain, how could a discussion about likely terrain on the Eastern Front not consider snow and mud (ok, it’s seasonal conditions). Not sure how (or if) it would be implemented (maybe just cosmetically with no effect in combat/movement etc), let alone whether it might only occur on some selected maps.